Shoe shank stiffener



June 19, 1934.

R. B. BARTELS SHOE SHANK STIFFENER Original Filed May 8, 1929 PatentedJune 19, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE SHANK Reinhard B.Bartels,

STIFFENER Marblehead, Mass.

1931, Serial No. 539,499

5 Claims.

Heretofore it has been customary to make metallic shank stiffeners forshoes, when the stiffeners are provided with integral attaching prongs,by cutting them from strip stock of the width oi" 5 the stiffeners. Theattaching prongs, more particularly those of substantial length whichmust be bent to securely clinch when they are driven into the solemember as at the forward ends of stiifeners for welt or McKay shoes, arecut lengthwise of the strip so that they bend crosswise of the grain ofthe metal which is produced when it is rolled into sheet form. Thenarrow width stock is, however, more expensive weight for Weight thanwider lstrip stock, since more operations are required to reduce it to anarrow condition. If, however, it be attempted to out this same form ofstiffener widthwise from a relatively wide strip, not only is thereconsiderable waste at the edge or edges where the prongs are formed, butthese prongs extend across the grain of the metal and are much less ableto withstand bending in the clinching operation without breaking. If, inorder to overcome this liability to breakage of the prongs, a relativelysoft metal is use, this is considerably more expensive than the hardermetal, as it must be subjected to annealing, and further, a greaterweight of such softer metal is necessary for the saine degree ofstiffness of the stiifener. If these relatively long prongs are cut fromthe body of the stiffener widthwise so that they may be bent across themetal grain, so much of the metal is cut away that the stiffener isliable to break off at the prongs. These drawbacks to the use of Widestock have therefore heretofore prevented its use for the manufacture ofintegral pronged stiffeners.

This invention has for an object the production of a pronged stiflenerwhich is particularly suitable for cutting widthwise from wide stripstock and wherein the long prongs bend across the grain when beingclinched, but which are so constructed that the stiifener is not undulyweakened where the prongs are formed. To this end, each prong is cutfrom the stock of two adjacent r side by side stiifener portions of thestrip so that each prong may be of a length equal to onehalf the Widthof the stiffener and yet leave onehalf of the width of the stifener atthe prongs uncut. Not only does this construction make possible thecutting of the stiffeners widthwise, but in the case of a stiffenerprovided with a central longitudinal stiflening rib formed by a lateralbending of the stiffener, it makes possible the successful use of stockharder and less expensive than heretofore required for lengthwise cutstiffeners, since in the lengthwise cut stiffeners the rib is formed bybending the metal with the grain, which is likely to cause cracking ifthe harder stock is used, while in the cross cut stifl'enersthis l. ribis formed by bending across the grain.

The present application covers `the stiffener per se, the method bywhich it is formed being claimed in my Letters Patent No. 1,829,496 forMethod of manufacturing shoe shank stiffener's, issued October 27, 1931,and from which the subject matter of this application has been divided.

For a more complete understanding of thisinvention, reference may be hadto the accompanying drawing in which l Figure 1 is a side elevation of afinished stiffener.

Figure 2 is a cross section on line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a perspective of the wide sheet showing successive stages ofthe cutting and forming of stiffeners therefrom.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan of one portion of a strip showing onearrangement of the prongs.

Figure 5 is a detail section on line 5-5 of Figure 4. v i l Figure 6 isa fragmentary plan showing a different arrangement of the prongs.

Figures 'l and 8 are detail sections on lines 7-7 and 8 8, respectively,of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawing, at 1 is indicated a strip of sheet metal fromwhich the stiffeners are to be cut. This strip is passed betweensuitable dies, as shown in my parent application hereinbefore mentioned,by which various cutting and l bending operations are successivelyperformed 9o thereon. In the rst operation, prongs 11 are struck fromone edge portion of the stock Aof the strip extending lengthwisethereof. At the same time prongs such as 12 may be struck inwardly nearthe opposite edge of the stock strip opposite 9 to the spaces betweenthe prongs 11. .Next prongs 15 from stock lapping the stock cut to formthe prongs 11, but extending in the opposite direction, are cut and thestock for the severalA stiffeners may be partially severed as by theslits 17. The prongs 11 and 15 are thus formed at the extreme end ofeach completed stifener. 'Ihe slits 17 are made opposite to the centralportions of the side lapping lengths of material from which the prongs11 and 15 are formed. The'1'05 partly severed stiffeners may then havestiffening ribs 18 molded therein and thereafter they may be molded tolateral curvature and then individually completely severed from thestrip in com-.1 pleted condition. 110

The prongs l1 and 15 can be cut as shown in Figures 4 or 5, all thediagonal lines of severance 30 between the portions struck out extendingin parallel relation. When the stiffeners are so cut the points of theprongs are offset from each other lengthwise of the stiffener, as shownin Figure 5, each stiffener having its prongs 11 and 15 arranged in thesame relation theretofas all the others. Instead of so cutting theprongs, the diagonal cuts may be alternately reversely positioned asshown at 30 and 31 in Figure 6. In this case both prongs of eachstiffener come opposite to each other lengthwise of the stifener, butthose of one stiffener have their diagonal edges facing outwardly towardthe adjacent end of the stiifen-` ers as shown at 32 in Figure 7 and thestiffeners cut from the strip portions next adjacent thereto have thediagonal sides of the prongs inwardly facing as at 33 in Figure 8. Inboth cases, however, it will be noted that one-half thelength of eachprong is cut from the stock of the next adjacent strip portion thereto,so that these prongs maybe made each of a length of one-half the widthof the strip portion and yet between the opposed prongs of each stripportion there is left an uncut space equal in width to the length ofeach of the long prongs and so equal in length to one-half the width ofthe completed stiffener. The combined lengths of the prongs and the bodyportion therebetween is thus substantially one and one-half times themaximum width of the Abody portion of the stiffener, the length of eachprong being substantially one-half of this maxi.

mum width and the prongs being spaced apart one-half of this width.Moreover, as the grain of the metal runs lengthwise of the strip i, theline of bending of each of these prongs is transverse to theline of thisgrain so that the prongs can be bent, when the stifener is fixed to thesole member by clinching the prongs over, without danger vof breakage.These relatively long prongs should be placed at the forward ends of thestiffeners which are to be used for welt or McKay shoes. The rear endfastening means for the stiffeners is not required to be so secure,since this portion comes over the heel and is securely xed by theneighboring portions of Vthe shoe. v A relatively short prong which itis not necessary to clinch in the material istherefore allthat isnecessary. These short prongsV may be formedl in 'various ways,therefore, Figures 6 and 'I' showing a Adifferent formfrom thatillustrated in Figure 1. Referring to these Figures, it will be seenthat the material of the stiffener is struck out at 35 in oppositedirections to form pairs of short prongs 36.

I Each of the completed stiffener members, it will be seen, comprises alaterally extending strip section 51 cut from the relatively wide stripl,

' and has a centrally depressed reinforcing rib '18,

a pair of spaced relatively long integral attaching prongs 11 and 15 atone end bent from portions of greater width than the body portion of thestiiener and relatively short integral attaching prongs as 12 adjacentto its opposite end. If it were attempted to strike the long prongs fromthe material of the width of one individual strip portion there would beinsuicient material to make these prongs of the necessary length. As thestrip material 1 as commercially made varies slightly in width. itshould be fed into the die pressed 'against the left hand edge as viewedin Figure 3, so that the prongs l1 and l5 may all be of full size. Theprongs atthe opposite end of the stiffener being formed slightly inwardfrom the end of the stiffener andl inwardly from the edge of the strip 1are therefore not affected by the slight commercial variations in widthof the strip 1.

From the foregoing description of certain embodiments of the stiffenertogether with a method and means by which such stiifeners may be formed,it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changesand modifications might be made therein without Ydepartingv from thespirit or scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims. Y

I claim:

l. A shank stiffener having a body portion,

and opposed pairs of attaching prongs integral with said body portionand spaced apart substantially one-half the width of said body portion,each of said prongs being of'a length substantiaily one-half the widthof said body portion and at the extreme end of said stiffener.

2. A sheet metal shank stiffener havingY the grain of the metalextending laterally thereof, and provided with` integral attachingprongs 'extending lengthwise of said grain at one extreme i end.

3. A shank stiifener having a body portion arranged with the grain ofthe metal extending laterally thereof, and having attaching prongsextending from the sidesv Vof said body portion at one end, the4Vcombined lengths of said prongs and the body portion therebetweenbeing greater than the width of said body portion.

4. A shank stiflener having a body portion arranged with the grain ofthe metal extending laterally thereof, and having attaching prongsextending from the sides of said body portion at one end, the combinedlengths ofr said prongs and the body portion therebetween being greaterthan the width of said body portion, said stiifener also havingattaching prongs inwardly of its opposite end. y f

5. A shank stifener having a body portion arranged with the grain of themetaly extending Ylaterally thereof, and having attaching prongsVVVV

